ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI -- Edmonton Sun

LLOYDMINSTER -- Thunder Bay head coach Vern Ray called his shot. He not only predicted his side would pull off the upset of the tournament, he said how they'd do it.

"I told one of our guys before the game, we should win if we just stay disciplined,'' said Ray, after a shocking 7-5 upset win over the previously undefeated Horse Lake Thunder in yesterday's Allan Cup semifinal. "They were undisciplined and played right into what we wanted to do.''

The Thunder walked right into the trap. Greg Lakovic put his team down 1-0 with a roughing penalty at 6:18, Gino Odjick put them down 2-0 with a roughing penalty after the whistle at 8:09, and Todd Holt, their best player, took a five-minute major penalty and got tossed from the game at 9:37. Then, with his team trailing 2-0 and short-handed for five minutes already, Misko Antisin ran a guy into the end boards two seconds after the whistle at 10:37.

Three-nothing.

"Everybody is just like young kids. You're all fired up to play,'' said Horse Lake coach Glen Watson. "It's tough. You're trying to keep everyone on an even keel and they got a little excited there. I called a time out to cool our guys down and try to get them refocused.

"It's disappointing. That's the thing about semifinals, it's a one-game showdown. There were some things that affected us at the start. I think we showed a lot of character battling back to tie it up and pull ahead, but little mistakes will cost you and they did.''

Ray wasn't surprised that even though the stakes were so high, the Thunder lost their composure early on.

"There was such hype around them it was tough to control their emotions,'' he said. "Unfortunately for them it got to them.''

And now the Bombers, a team named for the fictional OHL team in the movie Youngblood, is in the final.

"I don't think a lot of people believed what we could do, especially after (losing 8-3) Wednesday night,'' said Barry McKinley, who scored three goals in the win, twice on the power play and once into the empty net.

The Bombers will play undefeated Montmerency in today's 2 p.m. final. The Quebec team beat Mid West 4-1 in the other semi.